689. Recess: School’s Out (2001)

Starring: Andrew Lawrence, Jason Davis, Pamela Adlon

Director: Chuck Sheetz

Running Time: 82 mins

Recess: School’s Out is an American film, based on the TV series, about T.J. and the gang’s adventure to save summer vacation from a vengeful ex-principal of Third Street School.

You’ve got to love this film, because even though it doesn’t quite reach to the heights of the fantastic TV series, it puts a smile on your face right from the word go all the way up until the very end, and that’s something that’s very hard to do, especially with a kids’ film that could potentially be a little dumb.

But this isn’t dumb at all. The TV show of Recess was not only a huge amount of fun, especially for me seeing as it has always been one of my favourite programmes, but it’s also a clever way of showing a little microcosm of the world in a school playground, but with the added fun antics of the kids’ world.

This is one of those films where, having loved it so much when I was young, I accept that I am a little biased due to the nostalgic value that it gives to me, however I still believe that this is one of the most entertaining and consistently imaginative and cheery Disney films of all time.

The main character, T.J., is just one of the coolest you’ll ever come across, and united with his gang of friends, their amazingly imaginative and constantly happy attitude to absolutely everything is so pleasant and enjoyable to see, and that’s one of the main reasons that you won’t be able to stop smiling for the whole film.

Of course, being a kids’ film, this is incredibly lightweight, and fortunately focusses a lot more on the fun and adventure of the story, and while I think that this more action-packed plot doesn’t really compare to those in the TV show, there’s still a beautiful underlying theme here about seizing the moment, enjoying childhood and life while it lasts and being with friends.

Overall, then, this gets a 7.8, because it’s just so fun, happy and enjoyable to watch, while also having a profound meaning to it at the same time.